May 22, 2013

Detroit Tigers outfielder Avisail Garcia. / Associated Press

Written by

Jamie Samuelsen

Detroit Free Press Special Writer

Jamie Samuelsen, co-host of the “Jamie and Wojo” show at 6 p.m. weekdays on WXYT-FM (97.1), blogs for freep.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. You can reach him at jamsam22@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter @jamiesamuelsen and read more of his opinions at freep.com/jamie.

Would you keep Avisail Garcia around even when Austin Jackson comes back?

The Detroit Tigers are not a perfect team. Nobody suggests they are.

But if they fail to win AL Central this season, it will have little to do with the 25th man on the roster. If we all know this to be true, then why do we spend so much time obsessing over the likes of Donald Thomas Kelly?

That’s what this debate boils down to. When Austin Jackson returns from the disabled list, do you keep Avisail Garcia around? He’s got potential. He’s got power. He’s got a throwing arm as he showed last season. And he has the composure to play stressful innings for a contending team. Or do you stick with Kelly, a career .229 hitter, who the Tigers twice designated for assignment last year?

True, he has played every different position on the diamond in his career and he can cover a lot of ground in the outfield. But he’s a serious liability at the plate and has quickly become this season’s Brandon Inge/Ryan Raburn as the player who most normally attracts the fan’s ire. (Alex Avila is closing fast for that honor and Jose Valverde is always a contender to re-emerge.)

So the answer is rather obvious, isn’t it? I’d send Garcia back down to Toledo and keep Kelly in Detroit.

Nonsense? Not really.

The first part is obvious. Garcia is a 21 year-old prospect who needs one very simple thing to improve – at-bats. He needs to play every single day and pile up as many plate appearances as possible. In Detroit, he might get a game here or a game there. We know that Jim Leyland is very good at keeping all his players involved throughout the season. But with Austin Jackson, Torii Hunter and Andy Dirks manning the three outfield positions on a regular basis, Garcia would be nothing more than a spot starter. That doesn’t work for him and it doesn’t make any sense for the Tigers.

(Page 2 of 2)

Kelly, despite all the public teeth gnashing, is fine for the job he’s asked to fill. He can spot start in any of the outfield positions or on the infield. He’s a late-inning defensive replacement if needed. No, he’s not an ideal pinch-hitting candidate, not in the same way Garcia would be. And I didn’t agree with Leyland’s move last Wednesday when he hit Kelly for a 3-for-3 Matt Tuiasosopo in the ninth inning of a 7-5 loss to the Astros on May 15.

But again, the Tigers are not going to rise or fall on the back of Don Kelly. He delivered the go-ahead hit in the 14th inning over the Astros on May 2. He made a home run-saving catch against Toronto’s J.P. Arencibia on April 9. He actually has done some things to help this team win some games. He just doesn’t hit very much.

I run the risk of over-doing it, so I’ll stop. Kelly is a borderline big leaguer. He’s on this roster because he’s versatile. If a better option comes along for replacing him, I’m all for it. But right now, he’s not the problem. And right now, the team is better served by Garcia maturing in Toledo.

If another player gets hurt, the Tigers should bring Garcia back. If he assaults Triple-A pitching and simply can’t be kept down any longer, the Tigers should bring him back. And if the major league offense goes south and needs a boost, then they should bring him back. But short of that happening, Garcia should spend some more time in Toledo. If the goal here is to have an emergency option on the bench who won’t play in most games, Kelly is your guy. If the goal is to have a guy that can jumpstart the offense and mask a deficiency in the lineup, then Garcia is your guy. We’re just not at that point yet.

The Tigers have some issues. Don Kelly is one of them. But if you list off the reasons why this team is just five over .500 going into play on Wednesday in Cleveland, Kelly is far down on that list. Don’t obsess over the 25th guy on the roster. And don’t use Garcia to fill that role. If Garcia is as good as we’ve seen and as good as we’ve been told, he’ll be much higher in the minds of Tigers fans than 25th.